White-labor versus black comparisons served to deflect abolition, not broaden it.

Evidence

The point must be underscored: in every case, these arguments comparing unprosperous whites with blacks aimed not at broadening the abolitionist vision but at deflecting it. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 307

Categorization

• XREF: Parallel to rhetorical strategies of category-protection: humanitarian comparisons used as deflection rather than solidarity-broadening. — connects to: Colonial debate centered on labor’s racial meanings, not physiology. — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 688; Even white abolitionists could not imagine black people as equals — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 53; Abolitionism could succeed by keeping racist premises and only changing their implications — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 513 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Abolitionism could succeed by keeping racist premises and only changing their implications #corroborates (0.85) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 513
• White abolitionists opposed slavery but never supported racial equality. #corroborates (0.85) — bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman_ Black Women and…, 363
• Even white abolitionists could not imagine black people as equals #corroborates (0.82) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 53
• Colonial debate centered on labor’s racial meanings, not physiology. #expands (0.80) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 688
• Gradual emancipation was framed as preparation for white society rather than Black freedom #corroborates (0.80) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1258